I have been fascinated by Jesse James as long as I can remember...he was even the plot of a Brady Bunch episode! I've read books, I've watched movies...I've been to the house where he was murdered in St Joe twice, to the farm in Kearney where he was raised, to a museum down by St Louis that proposed he didn't really die in St Joe & lived to be a very old man...
I live in Mercer County, Missouri, self-proclaimed birthplace &/or childhood home of another of my favorite legends, Calamity Jane. there are many stories in this area of people who fed & sheltered Jesse & his gang. They did rob the Corydon Bank in broad daylight, after all! (been to that museum too!)
the new guy at work Quenten was telling me their family legend of how his great grandma had fed Jesse & his gang & made them leave their weapons outside.
I thought Brad Pitt was a very good, broody Jesse James, which is of course how I picture him. I also loved American Outlaw, because they portrayed Zee as so spunky. You would have to be something to be married to Jesse, always secretive, ready to move at a moments notice, no close friends...
I have even in the past tried to write a novel about Jesse James. I did win honorable mention in a short story contest put on by the St Joe Literary something or other. I read the ones that beat me, one was a dog sitting by a gate. so, you'll probably never see me on the best seller list. maybe I'll blog it someday...
